Hong Kong: Hong Kong raked in nearly $1 billion from electronics exports to the United Arab Emirates alone last year.

The Special Administrative Region, which was recently named the world's freest economy by Canada's Fraser Institute, yesterday rang in its 7th edition of the specialist Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring), which will run until April 16th.

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According to K.B. Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council's (HKTDC) Electronics/Electrical Appliances Industries Advisory Committee, the country exported more than $169 billion in electronics products last year, with statistics showing that $951 million came from the UAE. It represents an encouraging 2% growth over 2008 figures in terms of electronics trade with the Middle Eastern country.

The UAE is now the 17th major electronics export market for Hong Kong, with the largest being China, followed by the United States of America.

While Hong Kong's economy can't claim to have escaped the global financial crisis since 2008, signs of improvements have been observed over the last few quarters.

In 2009 as a whole, the country's GDP only fell by 2.7%, with the government predicting that its economy will grow by 4-5% this year and, with the electronics industry considered to be the country's largest merchandise export earner, a lot of attention is centred around the Spring and Autumn editions of the Hong Kong Electronics Fair.